5TH WEEK OF LENT

What I heard from him I tell the world.

Have you ever noticed how often Jesus turned the tables on his listeners? Take today’s Gospel reading. During a dispute with some Jewish leaders, he says, “I have much to say about you in condemnation” (John 8:26). That makes sense. He had already said “much” to them about their hard hearts and their opposition of him. So you might expect him to end with a stinging rebuke and words of rejection. But he didn’t. “But,” he said, “the one who sent me is true, and what I heard from him I tell the world” (8:26, emphasis added).

Not words of condemnation from Jesus, but a message from his Father, a message he preached everywhere he went. It’s the message that St. John had summed up a few chapters earlier: “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:17).

Amazing, isn’t it? Jesus had good reasons to condemn his enemies. They were trying to kill him, after all. But instead, he urged them, “If you do not believe that I am, you will die in your sins” (John 8:24). If only they would accept him, then all would be forgiven, and they would know the joy and freedom of being “saved through him” (3:17).

The same is true for each of us—including you. There may indeed be “much” that Jesus could say to you “in condemnation” (John 8:26). He might be able to produce a long list of your sins and render an appropriate punishment for them. But he doesn’t. He looks at you with love and compassion. He may point to your sins at times, but only to forgive, to heal, and to save. That’s how much he loves you.

Are there sins in your past (or present) that are making you feel unworthy of God’s love? Are you so enmeshed in some situation right now that you think you’re beyond his mercy? Don’t believe those lies! Turn to Jesus. Let the experience of his love break any chains that might be binding you and soften whatever hardness is in your heart.

Jesus has not come to condemn you. So settle your heart, come into the Lord’s presence, and listen for his voice. Let him save you.

“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

Numbers 21:4-9
Psalm 102:2-3, 16-21
John 8:21-30